After receiving the information he wanted, Manuel commended Badars and, after organizing the testimony, rushed to his father's palace.
Alexius was almost finished with his daily administrative duties; seeing his servant report that his eldest son had arrived, he immediately stopped his work, intending to hear his son's report.
Upon seeing his father, Manuel first made the sign of the orthodox cross, then presented the testimony to him, and quickly reported the essentials: "We have captured a person attempting to deliver a secret letter containing false information.
This person is Doria's old butler, Giuseppe Doge.
He has confessed that Doria has been colluding with Genoa for over three years, and all the previously leaked secrets were passed by him to the Kaffa authorities."
Alexius pondered for a moment, then said, "Very good, I will send someone to deal with him as soon as possible.
Manuel, in the future, it's best to avoid doing such things yourself."
After repeatedly agreeing, Manuel couldn't help but ask, "Father, I'm a little curious, why did you appoint a surrendered general as the Grand Admiral?"
Alexius's mouth twitched slightly, and he said softly, "Before I ascended, didn't the Principality become a landlocked country?
Although I regained some access to the sea through conquest, the navy sailors in the country all needed training, right?
The Principality didn't have the money to hire excellent Venetians, so at that time, I was a bit desperate, and seeing a Genoese prisoner of war who had served as a naval officer, I decided to make the most of him..."
Sure enough, free things are always the most expensive, Manuel thought to himself.
Then he found an excuse to leave first.
After Manuel left, Alexius, somewhat dazed, ordered his servants to summon several trusted private soldier leaders, and upon their arrival, he commanded, "You will divide into two groups.
One group will secretly watch Grand Admiral Doria for now, without letting him detect any unusual activity.
The other group, right now, immediately, go search his residence."
Meanwhile, Maurice Doria still felt his life was as peaceful and comfortable as ever, still pretending to diligently train the navy.
Anyway, even if Alexius questioned him, he could find different reasons to defend himself: "These soldiers are not suited to be sailors," "No matter how much the navy trains, it can't compare to the Genoese," "Our army's average level is already far superior to the Tatars"...
In any case, as long as the navy could barely contend with Tatar pirates and avoid his dismissal, it was fine, as his true abilities were meant to shine for Genoa.
However, unfortunately, Doria's life was about to end.
As he was preparing to finish work and return home, Alexius had secretly dispatched his personal guards to raid his residence.
Although most of his communications with Genoa had been destroyed, due to his past profligate nature, some overlooked and uncleared traces remained.
At the same time, several militiamen disguised as taxi soldiers approached him and explained, "His Highness the Prince believes that Genoa will send assassins to target various important ministers, so we have been specially dispatched to protect you, Governor."
Doria initially didn't pay much attention, until they dispersed the Italian attendants who had followed Doria for many years, only then did Doria sense something was amiss.
But he did nothing more than express his dissatisfaction.
However, this feeling of unease lingered until nightfall, when the militiamen guards suddenly restrained his hands, tightly covered his mouth with a white cloth, and secretly escorted him to a deserted place.
Only then did Doria realize what was happening.
"Mmm, woo woo woo.
Mmm..." However, his captors, disgusted by his muffled cries, untied a hemp rope from their belts, bound his limbs, and then placed a black cloth bag over his head.
Thus, the Grand Admiral—oh no, he should now be called the former Grand Admiral—was brought in such a pathetic state to his former secluded residence.
Speaking of which, Doria had deliberately chosen such a residence as his abode because it was secluded enough to conceal his communications with Genoa.
Unfortunately, it had now backfired, and the secluded residence had instead become an excellent place for his interrogation.
When the various restraints on Doria's head were removed, he realized the predicament he was in: His Highness the Prince Alexius and Crown Prince Manuel were sitting on chairs, looking at him calmly, but their eyes were extremely cold.
John Huss, the gray-haired, blue-eyed Chief of Spies, who rarely appeared in public, wore a black cloak, looking intrigued.
And Manuel's four big men were also there, full of excitement for what they were about to do.
Next to them, there were various chilling tools.
"This is... my residence's basement?"
Doria looked at the familiar place, his heart crying out in dismay, but he still tried to maintain his dignity: "Your Majesty, I must remind you, arbitrarily detaining a noble is..."
Before he could finish, one of the big men picked up a whip and lashed him across the face.
Manuel watched calmly from the side, as for him, no matter how cruelly such a traitor was treated, it would not stir any ripple in his heart.
"Noble?
In my eyes, there is only a traitor," Alexius said, looking at him indifferently.
"Let him meet a few people, Father," Manuel, still a young man, said with a smile, but in Doria's eyes, this seemingly somewhat naive youth was already as terrifying as his father.
"Indeed," Alexius then ordered the Chief of Spies to have the personal guards bring those people over.
Subsequently, Doria was surprised to find that the Italian servants in his residence who were usually close to him, including old Doge, all had more or less injuries on their bodies, and were all escorted like prisoners.
Upon entering, they were immediately ordered by the personal guards to numbly kneel before Alexius.
"They have already admitted your collusion with Genoa for over three years, and these letters, how do you explain them?" Alexius interrogated in a threatening tone.
Doria understood that everything was completely exposed, sighed, and then, steeling his heart, asked fiercely, "Your Majesty, do you think that with your current military strength, you can defeat Genoa?
Even if you conspire with Venice, at most you can only protect yourselves.
What can you do against the main force sent by our homeland?
Do you think the Tatars in the north will always tolerate your small heretical country?
And the Turks coveting the northern Black Sea coast, Kandar, who still had strength back then, wanted to infiltrate here.
Do you think the Ottoman, who is now flourishing, would not have such an idea?
"So, why not abandon this tiny piece of land and give all the territory and the serfs on it to us?
Wouldn't that benefit both of us?
We can gain more trading cities, and you and your family can go to Italy, far away from these terrifying threats.
To be honest, sometimes I pity you, only able to cling to a small city-state here, surviving in the cracks, fearing that one day you will be crushed like an ant by some emerging power..."
"Shut up!" With Alexius's reprimand, Huss again instructed a big man to lash Doria.
Manuel looked at his father with some concern, because his tone just now was truly angry, and also a little shaken.
But Alexius quickly calmed down and coldly ordered Huss, "By whatever means necessary, I want to know everything he knows about Genoa from his mouth."
Then he quickly returned.
However, Manuel was not in such a hurry to return, but first introduced the four big men to Huss: "Mr. Huss, these four are all excellent interrogators."
Huss scrutinized them carefully, then returned a look that said, "I understand."
Then, Manuel sneered at Doria and introduced the four men who had already begun to shed their upper garments: "Sir Doria, please enjoy yourself.
These four are the best of the best, each with extraordinary abilities, each with unique skills, and their fighting spirit and patience are astonishing.
I believe they will give you unexpected surprises."
Doria was stunned; he truly hadn't expected these Goths to use such ruthless methods, and could only cry out in vain, "No, no, no, stop!
I am a Genoese noble, you cannot do this to me, you cannot!!!"
But Manuel merely turned and left indifferently, leaving the professionals in the basement to do their professional work on the interrogated man.